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Please list sightings in alphabetical order by site. Only report sightings that are of wider interest, rather than listing all common birds. However, DO NOT post details of scarce breeding birds (those included in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, as amended). Any such reports will be removed. Please report them instead to the appropriate London Natural History Society bird recorder. Note that records submitted here may be added to the LNHS database for use in the London Bird Report; by posting your news here you agree to have your records copied by the LNHS recorder. Further information 'HERE. *CHURCH WOOD (TRENT PARK) PETITION: Details HERE *LONDON OWL SURVEY: Details HERE *THREAT TO BOTWELL COMMON: Details HERE ---- 'Ladywell field.S.E.6.kingfisher.kestrel.8 redwings.5 commom gulls on running track.Terry Wilson..Saturday 4 February 2012 *Brent Reservoir: 95% ice, 14 Snipe, Shelduck, 38 Redwing, 20 Fieldfare (Andrew Haynes, Andrew Verrall). *Greenwich Park: influx of Redwing, with various different flocks flying around (c120-150). (Joe Beale) *Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens: Tawny Owl, Nuthatch, 4+ Green Woodpecker, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, c200 Greylag Geese, c70 Canada Geese, c25 Shoveler, c10 Pochard, Pied Wagtail, 4 Coal Tit. 200+ Fieldfare over plus c10 Redwing (Charlie Farrell) *King George's Reservoir: 3 Lapwing, 34 Fieldfare, 2 Redwing, 1 Little Egret (Millicent Harper) *Regent's Park: 68 Red Crested Pochards, 46 Mandarins, 70 Fieldfares, 380 Redwing, 4 Siskins, 36 Goldfinches (Tony Duckett) *Walthamstow, Lockwood Reservoir: 2 drake Red-breasted Merganser disturbed by vehicle from drainage dyke north of reservoir early am, flew towards Banbury, 6-8 Goosander (5 f, 1 m and possibly another pair), 8 Goldeneye (Stuart Fisher) 'Friday 3rd February 2012' * WHERE?: Fieldfare, pair Kestrel (Adrian Platt) -London. *Alexandra Park: Little Grebe, c10 Tufted Duck, 2 Pochard Boating Lake (90% frozen), 30 Tufted Duck, 7 Pochard, 2 drake Shoveler Wood Gree/Tunnel Res (Bob Watts). *Bankside, SE1: Peregrine on tower of Tate Modern, north-facing. (D. Greenwood) *Crossness: Bar-tailed Godwit, 7 Grey Plovers off Golf Centre this morning (John Archer). *Bromley-by-Bow: Green Sandpiper, 6 Redshank, 400+ Teal, 2 Snipe, 15 Gadwall (Stuart Fisher) *East India Dock Basin/Bow Creek: 2 Shelduck, female Pintail, 159 Teal, 3 Tufted Ducks, 4 Redshank, 10 Linnet, Reed Bunting (John Archer). *Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park: Fieldfare, 1, maybe 2 Water Rails showing well intermittently, Little Grebes, Linnets just outside park, also one Fox. The warden reports he flushed a Jack Snipe (Joe Beale) *Grovelands Park (Southgate): 2(m&f) Firecrest, feeding in Holly, 13:28 - 13:50 hrs; 1 Little Grebe; 1 Great Crested Grebe; 4(2m,2f) Teal; 8(5m,3f) Shoveler; 5(2m,3f) Pochard; 8(3m,5f) Tufted Duck; 1 Sparrowhawk; 1 Green Woodpecker; 4 Coal Tit, including one singing; 1 singing male Greenfinch (Robert Callf). *Hampstead Heath (NW corner of men's pond/Highgate no 2.): Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, 1 f Bullfinch, Nuthatch *Horsenden Hill: 1 Treecreeper, 1 Tawny Owl, 2 Little Owl, 130+ Fieldfare, 80+ Redwing (Andy Culshaw). *Isleworth Thames, Syon House: Peregrine hunting Teal dropped like stone into the river seen from Kew Gardens (Les Mccallum). *Ladywell Field SE6: Kingfisher, Kestrel m, 4 Redwing.2 Goldcrest, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker (Terry Wilson). *Leyton Flats: 20 Shoveler, 100 Redwing, 24 Fieldfare, 1 Bullfinch. (Gary A James). *Little Britain Iver/Cowley: Nuthatch heard, 50+ Redwings, 10+ Fieldfare, 2 Song Thrush, 3 Little Grebes, 16 Shovelers, Ring-necked Parakeet, Grey Wagtail, Common Gull, Kestrel, Green Woodpecker (Sue Giddens *London Wetland Centre: Great views of one of the Bitterns, and at least 5 Water Rails out on the ice, Siskins, Goldfinches, Redpolls, Peregrine (Nathalie M - I think it was Tom but couldnt get clear photo), Pintail pair, lots of Shoveler displaying, 3 Common Snipe flying around, at least 3 Cettis seen but more heard, Redwings seen from car-park (W.Marks). *Osterley Park: 16.00-16.55 prolonged views of a hunting Barn Owl. An amazing performance with views down to 15 feet on more than one occasion. Also 6 Lapwing. (K.Fisher) *River Lee Country Park: Bowyers Water - 1M Smew, pair of Goldeneye. Hall Marsh - Woodcock, 2 Snipe. Holyfield area - pair of Bullfinch, Pintail (weir), 2M Goosander in front of the Grebe Hide. One with a red fishing float and line trapped in its bill. (Mike Oakland) *Stockers Lake: 2M Smew, 2 Little Egrets on river, 1 Cettis Warbler along river at the point furthest NW on the lake, Inns lake on other side of river.Little Owl on farm field despite w..k.rs cutting down and burning its nest site.(Richard Francis) *Thamesmere Lake: 7 Wigeon (Conrad Ellam) *Thames foreshore, Thamesmere to Woolwich: 30+Lapwing, 10+Redshank (Conrad Ellam) *Thorney C P: 6 Siskins, Greenfinch, 10+ Redwings, 3 Little Egrets on lake, 2 Grey Herons, Wigeon, 4 Gadwall.(Sue Giddens) *Walthamstow Reservoirs (north side): female Red-breasted Merganser, 6 Goosander (2m, 4f), 6 Goldeneye (2m, 4f), 2 Lapwings, 2 Chiffchaffs, c50 Teal (Mark Pearson Northern Rustic) *Wanstead Flats: 100+ Redwing (north), 30 + Fieldfare (north), Reed Bunting (Nick Croft) *Wanstead Park: 2 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (north of Heronry pics: http://wansteadbirding.blogspot.com/2012/02/wansteads-iconic-birds-no1-lesser.html), hundreds of Redwing and Fieldfare, 7 Little Grebe, Little Egret, Kingfisher, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, 5 Teal (Nick Croft) *Wimbledon Common: Firecrest in holly thickets from path which runs alongside Putney Vale Cemetry.100+ Redwing, 1 Fieldfare (Peter Carlill). *Woodside Park: 2 Blackcaps (m+f), 60+ Redwings, 55 Fieldfares, 8 Blackbirds, f Sparrowhawk in Westbury Road gardens, plus a Rook and 3 Lapwings over (Ian Ellis). 'Thursday 2nd February 2012' *Bexleyheath (Broadway) - Christchurch Cemetery: 8 Greenfinch, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Chaffinch. Library - 2 Pied Wagtail (Chris Rose). *Bow Creek: 5 Shelduck, 152 Teal, 1 Redshank (John Archer). *Bromley-by-Bow (Abbey Creek): 10 Redshank, 6 Common Snipe, 400+ Teal, 26 Gadwall, 19 Fieldfare West, 1 Reed Bunting South west (Stuart Fisher), 2 Common Sandpiper (Marco Johnson) *Bushy Park: Water Rail, 40 Meadow Pipits, 200+ Redwings, 100 Fieldfares, 40+ Siskin (Tony Duckett). Any chance I could get a location for the Water Rail? Would be nice to have a pop over for this one. Thanks. (Billy Dykes) *Cranford CP, J3 M4: Kingfisher, Buzzard, Kestrel, c10 Goldcrest, 4 GS Woodpeckers, Green Woodpecker, several large Long-tailed Tit flocks, c70 Redwings (W.Marks) *Crayford Marshes: 8 Little Gull (all 1st winter) downriver this morning, Spotted Redshank on the foreshore near the yacht club a.m. 6 Grey Plover, 2 Pintail, 7 Curlew, 3 1st winter Yellow-legged Gull (Kev Jarvis). *Crossness: 1st winter Little Gull lingering off golf centre around power station outfall (Paul Hawkins per JA). *Danson Park (Bexleyheath): circa 10 Siskin, 2 or 3 Nuthatch, 2 Stock Dove, 1 male Teal, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 - probably 2 - Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Jay, 3 Egyptian Goose, 58 Canada Goose, 1 Mistle Thrush, 4 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 4 Lesser Black-backeds Gulls, a few Common Gulls, 1 Chaffinch, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Collared Dove, 1 Wren plus usuals (Chris Rose). *East India Dock Basin: 22 Teal, 8 Tufted Duck (basin mostly frozen) (John Archer). *Fulham Reach: 1 Lapwing over going W, 3 Redwing (Margravine cemetery) (Nathalie Mahieu). *Horsenden Hill Fields: 100+ Fieldfare and Redwing , 2m/2f Bullfinches, Sparrowhawk (Martin Smith). *Lordship Rec: 4 Lapwing flew low over the park southward at 14:45 (Jeremy Richardson). *Morden Park: fem Reed Bunting (David Campbell). *Mudchute (Isle of Dogs) 20 Monk Parakeets, 1 Chiffchaff, 10 Chaffinch, 3 House Sparrow (Conrad Ellam). *Muswell Hill: Tawny Owl just caught something outside my back window. 9.30 pm (P.Angus). *Oakwood Park, N14: 1 Mealy Redpoll feeding on Hawthorn buds with 2 Lesser Redpolls, 12:28 - 12:35 hrs (Robert Callf). *Osterley Park: 16.46 Barn Owl seen hunting in daylight for c10 minutes. Local dog-walkers report regular dawn and dusk sightings over the last month. (K.Fisher). This is interesting. Barn Owls were present in the late 1960's / earlier 1970's. Nested in dead tree in "West Fields" south of M4. Tree long gone. (Roger Dewey) *Rainham Marshes: 3 Caspian Gull, 5 Yellow-legged Gull and 1 Mediterranean Gull at stone barges on falling tide this am. (Ghost Birders) Jack Snipe '''flushed by Southern Boardwalk at 15.50 but not relocated. '''Short Eared Owl '''flew over NW Corner of Pennington Marsh (Near A13/Ferry Lane Junction) at 17:15. (Davey Leach) *Stockers Lake: M&F Smew, Little Egret, Goosander on river. '''Black Necked Grebe briefly on Bury Lake.(Richard Francis, who missed the Grebe) *Sutcliffe Park: 3 G Heron, 1 Common Snipe, 1 Kingfisher (James Lowen). *Stockley Park Golf Course, Uxbridge: Mallard, Coot, Black-headed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Ring-necked Parakeet, Green Woodpecker (2), Great Spotted Woodpecker (2) Drumming heard, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Feildfare (5), Long-tailed tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch (Singing). Bullfinch (Male) (Paul Boult) *Wanstead Flats: 21 Lapwing (south in small groups), 60 + Jackdaw, large numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing, 17 Goldfinch, 2 Stock Dove, 2 Greater Black-backed Gull (east) (Nick Croft et al) *Wanstead Park: Water Rail, 12 Egyptian Goose, Gadwall, Pochard, Shoveler, 4 Little Grebe, Lesser Redpoll, Kestrel, 1 Lapwing (Nick Croft) 'Wednesday 1st February 2012' *Bromley-by-Bow (Abbey Creek): Water Rail (feeding on mud with Teal south of reed bed on island, am), Snipe, 2 Redshank, Green Sandpiper, c400 Teal, 16 Gadwall, drake Tufted Duck, 18 Linnet, Chiffchaff, 2 Sparrowhawk (m and f), imm Great Black-backed Gull (S Fisher) *Bushy Park: 46 Meadow Pipit, 3 Fieldfare, 60+ Redwing, 40+ Siskin (Tony Duckett). *Crayford Marshes: 3 1st winter Little Gull down river p.m. Spotted Redshank on foreshore near Yacht Club. Water Pipit, Knot, Grey Plover, 15 Golden Plover, 2 Little Owl, Peregrine, 6 Pintail, 2 Rock Pipit, 6 Yellow-legged Gull's, Green Sandpiper (Kev Jarvis). *East India Dock Basin: 106 Teal, 28 Tufted Duck (John Archer). *Green Lane, Hounslow: male Peregrine (W.Marks) *Hampstead Heath: 2 male and 1 female Bullfinch in shrubs on bank to south of Kenwood (Liz Valentine) *Margravine Cemetery: 1 Goldcrest, 1 Coal Tit (Mark Ruscoe). *Oak Hill Woods (LWT) LNR, East Barnet, Herts. EN4: Common Buzzard perched in wood late afternoon per Kit & Carl (Bob Husband) *Park Farm (Enfield): 1 Woodcock, 21 Lapwing (Robert Callf & Robin White). *Rainham Marshes: Iceland Gull, Snipe, Dunlin, Curlew, Golden Plover, Pintail, Wigeon, Gadwall, Water Rail, very tame Reed Bunting - almost stood on it! No luck finding the Bearded Tits - too windy for them and for me (S. Haslem); juv Gannet on Thames, 3 Caspian Gull, 8 Yellow-legged Gull, 1 Mediterranean Gull, all at the barges (Ghost Birder). *Roding Valley Park: Kingfisher, 3 Little Egret, Sparrowhawk, Green Woodpecker, Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush, around 20 Goldfinch, around a dozen Long-tailed Tit (Alan Hobson). *Stoke Newington Reservoirs: 27 Shoveler, 1 Sparrowhawk (TeRNS). *Streatham (Oakdale Rd): 1 Wren, 1 drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker (R Bell). *Sutcliffe Park (Kidbrooke): 2 Jack Snipe, 4 Common Snipe (Conrad Ellam). *Thorney CP: Little Egret, Bullfinch (m), Red Kite over, Grey Heron, Stock Dove, 10 Redwing, 2 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, Kingfisher, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Goldfinch, 5 Siskin, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, 5 Great Crested Grebe (Sue Giddens). *Totteridge Valley: 13+ Mandarin on Darlands Lake (Steve Blake). Late afternoon: Water Rail (my first one here :-), 14 Mandarin, 7 Teal at Darlands Lake; 5/6 Reed Bunting, 200+ Fieldfare, 60+ Redwing, male Sparrowhawk in/over adjacent fields (Ian Ellis). *Trent Park: 1 female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, feeding in Hornbeam, 13:45 - 13:55 hrs - our first sighting of the year! (Robert Callf & Robin White). *Walthamstow Reservoirs: Male Goldeneye displaying on East Warwick (although nearest females on No 5).(Quentin Given). *Wanstead Flats: c. 40 Lapwing through (various small groups in various directions, though a group of 12 did land on the fairground briefly), 2 Linnet, 7 Skylark (fairground), 2 Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, 23 Fieldfare, Redwing, 2 Egyptian Goose, Sparrowhawk (Nick Croft/Jonathan Lethbridge from his home) *Wanstead Park: 2 Firecrest (Bush Wood still), 2m Wigeon (The Basin- JL c. 08:45, still at 10:00), 9 Egyptian Goose (The Basin), 2 Teal, Shoveler, Pochard, 100s Redwing in the woods, c.100 Fieldfare over west, Coal Tit, Siskin, 3 Lapwing, Sparrowhawk (Nick Croft/Jonathan Lethbridge). *Woodside Park: 8 Fieldfares and c20 Redwings in gardens this morning (Ian Ellis). *Wraysbury Gravel Pits: 4 Smew (2 pairs, courting and mating on Heron Lake), 6 Goosander, 12 Goldeneye, c20 Siskin (Rob Ayers). 'Archived News' NEWS FROM PREVIOUS MONTHS/YEARS